


Duck, Duck, Goose...

by ThePoetess



Category: Top Gun
Genre: #GhostGoose, Bravery, Courage, Friendship, Gen, Ghost Goose, Great balls of fire, Grief, Mav just needs a hug, Regret, Top Gun - Freeform, goose - Freeform, maverick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25312216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePoetess/pseuds/ThePoetess
Summary: Even through the hardest times, his best friend is always there... or, After Goose's death, Maverick keeps seeing his best friend everywhere. The doctors say he's seeing things, losing his edge, but Ghost Goose is as real as Real Goose and it's oddly comforting while being oddly unnerving. Or, Mav just needs a hug and a friend...From a post by Anthony Edwards (the actor who played Goose) in response to trying to get Goose in the second movie...I feel the need, the need for, Ghost Goose...
Relationships: Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky and Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Kudos: 3





	1. The Outsider

The first time it happened was on the flight deck, just after coming down from a dogfight... 

Pete Mitchell had been standing there under the cool morning sky in the salt water breeze and he'd sworn he'd seen the smiling face of his best friend from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, only sunlit rays played in his line of vision, so he turned his eyes skyward, dismally into that sky. His best friend was dead... and it was because of him. You didn't need to tell Mav otherwise, he knew it in his stubborn guilt ridden mind and once thought, it was hard to change Maverick Mitchell's mind. 

The second time was when he was walking from the carrier's gangplank back onto the docks and home to Miramar. He swore he saw Goose standing there, Nick Bradshaw standing there, beside the gangplank, smiling that infectious smile, waiting for him. Pete made a sound of greeting before it got halfway out then died in his throat, Kazansky walking beside him, sending his fellow Top Gun pilot a pitiful yet confused look as Mav instantly grew silent again and hightailed it towards Carole Bradshaw and her two children, Bradley and Daisy, to greet them, swallowing his regret and anger directed at none other but himself. Ice had pretended indifference, pressing a ice cold confident smile onto his face as he followed Maverick down. 

The third time, Mav sat down and questioned himself long and hard about the mental state of his psyche. Goose sat there on the other side of the booth and ate his ghost toast and drank his ghost coffee... Ghost toast, Mav had to chuckle at that. His psyche was scattered and he knew he was losing it. Completely and utterly losing it... but those weren't the only times he saw the spectre of his best friend, Goose Bradshaw. It wasn't the last time he'd blame himself either. Everybody who knew Pete Mitchell was starting to get worried. 


	2. That was Then; This is Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goose is there to help Mav... Iceman shows he cares... and all Mav wants to do is sleep the nightmare away... but the past won't let him.

Two o'clock beeped again on his alarm clock which again he ignored, ignored till a hard lumpy pillow hit him in the face, waking him from dreams, no, nightmares of jetwash, flat spins, and -- Mav turned over to be greeted by the face of his best friend with that unwavering smile that made Mav think that everything was just some big joke to his best friend. It made Maverick smile as he forced himself up with a splitting headache as he pushed the empty beer bottles from the bed "Y-Y-ou're - are you really here?" The phantom of his friend disappeared when the door opened sharply and he was replaced instead by a thoroughly unhappy Kazansky, chewing gum like he had a personal vendetta against it and was punishing it "You're still in bed and - fuck! What's all this broken glass? Maverick you got some death wish? Man, you're still dangerous." Mav raised an eyebrow which hurt like hell, trying to act as usual "That's right, I am dangerous," he didn't feel dangerous, beer bottles strewn about and his red eyes betraying him, telling everyone he'd been crying. Iceman shook his head "You're dangerous, but hungover, and that's probably much worse... cause that means you won't even use the little piece of your brain that actually works, when you're hungover you're reckless dangerous and that type of dangerous gets people k--" Maverick stared into the corner for a moment, watching Goose putting on his flight suit and helmet, Mav had a dazed look of shock before he quickly looked at Kazansky and stood up, getting in his face, having to stand on tiptoe to see eye to eye "What were you gonna say Ice?" Kazansky had stopped himself quickly from saying 'that type of dangerous gets people killed...' and instead looked calmly at the hungover Maverick "It wasn't your fault, Mav," Maverick instead of listening to another word, shoved past Ice and hurried out into the bright sunlight, followed by Goose 

"You know he's right Mav, you know he's right but you gotta blame yourself, cause that's just who you are... something goes wrong and you internalise it. You gotta stop buddy... you're taking a highway to the danger zone and if you keep going that way -" Mav got onto his motorbike and rode off, the words cutting at his heart. 

No matter how many times someone said that to him...

IT WAS HIS FAULT...  
it was his fault and he would NEVER believe anything else, because, IT WAS HIS FAULT...

Minutes later, there was a screech of sound and a crash.


	3. Mental Case

Mav woke up in the hospital, broken bones ached, he was broken down, tired, words circling in his head with the sound of -- he closed his eyes, the sound of smacking gum was one of the sounds he didn't want to hear... someone touched his shoulder. 

"Mav," Maverick fained sleep, wishing, praying, hoping that Kazansky and his gum would GO AWAY. 

"Mitchell, it wasn't your fault..."

Maverick faked a yawn and looked determinedly up at the ceiling "What happened?" He heard a brisk withdrawal of air from his fellow pilot "You were reckless." He looked over to see Kazansky blowing an enormously large pink bubble before it popped back into his mouth "That's right, I am reckless - and-" "Saying that won't make me go away or stop talking Maverick, I'm staying till you're completely over whatever guilt trip you're on right now... now you're going to sit still, not that you got much of a choice about that, seeing as how you broke some things... you're gonna be here for a while, so you might as well listen Mitchell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to do a smutty/joke book about Kazansky called 'The Iceman Cometh' 
> 
> XD


End file.
